You don't have to be famous: how to write your life story

Foreword

Chapter 1. You Don't Have To Be Famous

Forget About Fame and Fortune

Don't Think That You're Uninteresting

You Are Worthy

Advantages of Private Autobiography

"New Autobiography"

Chapter 2. FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions

How Long Does It Have to Be?

How Long Will It Take to Write This Thing?

Where Am I Going to Get My Ideas?

Should I Share My Enthusiasm With Family and Friends?

Will I Embarrass Myself With Bad Punctuation?

The Big Question (Why?)

Chapter 3. Motivation: Four Good Choices

Reason #1. Discovery

Reason #2. Posterity

Reason #3. History

Reason #4. Fulfilling Your Creative Impulse

Chapter 4. You Need an Organizing Principle

The Chronological Model

Variation on Chronology: The Flashback Model

The Episodic Model

The Theme-Linked Model

The History-Linked Model

The Stream-of-Consciousness Model

Chapter 5. Preparation Issues: Research, Outlining, Self-Discipline

Research-Keep It Limited

Infrastructure-Keep It Simple

To Outline or Not to Outline?

You Need a Whip-Cracking Tyrant (You)

Chapter 6. Who Are You and Who Is the Audience?

Who Is Your Audience?

No Audience But Yourself

What Are Your Levels of Candor and Disclosure?

How to Find Your Writing Voice

Chapter 7. Writing Is Hard

Understand Why Writing Is Hard

Balance Fear With Knowledge

Outsmart Writer's Block

"Get It Down, Then Get It Right"

Solitary Writing Versus Group Writing

Chapter 8. Set Your Imagination Free

Be Audacious

Get Into the Magic Zone

The Waiver

Tell the Truth

Chapter 9. Strategies for a Good Start

What Makes a Good Start Good?

Angles of Attack

Chapter 10. Telling Stories

Discovering Causation in Stories

What Is the Meaning of "Meaning"?

Selection

Fragments

What Is a Story?

Chapter 11. Writing Advice for the Long Haul

Showing Versus Telling

Be Specific

Change Pace

"Explainitis" and the Role of Instinct

What to Do When You Bog Down

Chapter 12. Talking About Things We Don't Talk About

Maybe You See It Differently

The Default Position: Safe and Conservative

The Bold Position: Telling All, Going Deep

Sentiment Versus Sentimentality

Chapter 13. Rewriting

Learn to Read Your Own Writing

The Joy of Deleting

The More You Look, the More You Find

Four Pages Back, Three Pages Forward

Think Bigger

When Does Rewriting End?

Chapter 14. You're Finished, Now What?

Brace for Unpredictable Reader Reactions

No-Tech and Low-Tech Publishing Options

Print-On-Demand Self-Publishing

Adding Audio and Video

Afterword: My Not-Yet-Written Autobiography

Appendix. Profiling Yourself on Video

Index